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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 - FEBRUARY 11, 2015
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VOLUME 3, NO. 6
33RD ANNUAL BLACK HISTORY PARADE AND FESTIVAL FEB. 21, 2015 Celebrate black history, culture and achievements at Pasadena’s 33rd annual Black History Parade and Festival from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. The festive celebration includes one of the biggest and longestrunning Black History parades in California. Bring family and friends to enjoy upbeat parade performances and plenty of free post-parade fun and entertainment. This year’s theme is “Our Heritage: The Bridge to the Future.” The parade begins at 10 a.m. at Charles White Park, Fair Oaks Avenue and Ventura Street in Altadena; then heads south on Fair Oaks Avenue before ending at Pasadena’s Robinson Park, 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave., where the festival takes place from 12-4:30 p.m. on the north side of the park on Hammond Street. More than 70 entries will be featured in the parade, including the Wilson Middle School Marching Band, New Buffalo Soldiers, local dance and drill teams, car and motorcycle clubs, musicians, community dignitaries and City officials. Celebrity Grand Marshals are award-winning NBC4 Southern California General Assignment
Section Two of Purple Line Included in Obama’s FY16 Budget
Buffalo soldiers ride down Fair Oaks Ave. in Pasadena -Photo by Terry Miller
Reporter Beverly White and actor-comedian Jason Echols. Community Grand Marshals are Pasa-
dena community activists and business owners Bill and Brenda Galloway. Ms. White and other members
of the NBC4 news team will be at the NBC4 booth on Hammond Street during the festival for a special
meet and greet with the community. Please see page 4
Public Invited to Share Input on LASD Employees Compete in Battle of the Pasadena Trees Through Feb. 17 Badges to Donate Blood for Patients in Need City residents, businesses and visitors are encouraged to complete a short online survey to help the Department of Public Works gauge public opinion on the importance of Pasadena’s urban forest. The 10-question survey, www. cityofpasadena.net/publicworks/urbanforestsurvey, will be available through Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. Public Works retained local environmental firm Dudek to update and consolidate Pasadena’s public tree man-
agement practices, tree protection guidelines and tree ordinance information into one document called the Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP). The survey is an initial step in the development of the UFMP. Community input is instrumental in shaping Pasadena’s public tree polices and will be included as an essential component of the UFMP. Public Works and Dudek will present inPlease see page 4
Trudging through Monday mornings and facing a new work or school week can be difficult enough, sometimes. But imagine if you were a hospital patient in need of blood. You might have a shift in perspective if someone you didn’t even know donated units of precious blood to help save your life … you might see every day – even hectic Mondays- as a gift. For six hours on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department hosted the American Red Cross’s
ninth annual Battle of the Badges blood drive at the Sherman Block Sheriff’s
Headquarters
Building
Please see page 4
Photos courtesy of LASD
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, business, environmental, labor, and community leaders applauded the inclusion of $100 million in President Obama’s proposed FY16 Budget for the second section of the Metro Purple Line Extension Project, calling the action an important step in keeping Metro’s planned subway construction toward West Los Angeles on track. The Mayor also praised the President for including $230 million for Metro’s two existing New Starts projects – the Regional Connector and the first section of the Purple Line Extension ($115 million each). The proposed funding within the President’s U.S. Department of Transportation budget – if approved by Congress later this year – can be combined with L.A. County’s voterapproved Measure R sales tax revenue and could fund construction of Section Two, a 2.6-mile extension of the subway through Beverly Hills to Century City scheduled to open in 2026. Metro has already begun construction of Section 1 between Wilshire/ Western and Wilshire/La Cienega. A third and final subway section is planned to reach the Westwood/ VA Hospital in 2035. The second section of the project would build two new underground stations -- in downtown Beverly Hills near Wilshire/Rodeo and in Century City at Constellation/Avenue of the Stars. “I’ve made transportation funding a key focus of mine in Washington, and I want to thank President Obama for responding in such a big way to help us cut traffic, reduce air pollution, and shorten Please see page 3